John Martyn biography

Musical topics not directly related to steel guitar

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Matt Dawson
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John Martyn biography

Post by Matt Dawson »

For anyone interested in the english folk/rock scene of the 60's the new John Martyn biography 'Some people are Crazy' is a good read. He comes off as a great musician but a seriously flawed human being...
Matt
Iain
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Post by Iain »

Isn't he Scottish by birth? I'm sure he didn't just move here and pick up the accent.

Anyway, I saw him first - solo and/or with Danny Thompson - many years ago, at many gigs, and he was great, then. He became more, er, "ebbulient" onstage through the years, added more and more people to his bands...and got worse and worse, sadly: loud, blustery, shouty versions of songs he'd done so gorgeously before.
After his leg was amputated I saw him again and he seemed a bit more like the old John M. He was ertainly singing much better than I'd heard him do for YEARS.

There was a documentary on telly here about him, about a year ago, post leg-op. He did seem somewhat of a "handful" as a personality, sadly(!)
Matt Dawson
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Post by Matt Dawson »

Yup he's from Glasgow but, as a child was shuttled back and forth to an aunt in Surrey. His albums Bless the Weather, Inside Out and One World are beyond compare. 'One World' is my favourite song of all time. Matt